*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 5:28am PDT - promote requested by ZappaDanMan.

*science

Adding video to channels (Science) - requested by garmachi.

*history

Adding video to channels (History) - requested by garmachi.

Beat me by 2 1/2 hours. That's okay, saves me some space on my que.

That said, I think this is one of my least favorite videos of his. The reasons for Pluto not being a planet are far more involved, and he didn't even touch on the basics of the other reasons, nor did he explain that Pluto/Charon, Eris, Ceres and a few others are Dwarf Planets (Pluto and Eris technically belong to a sub-group of Dwarf Planets called Plutoid). Good video overall, but another 5 minutes would have helped give more detail.

Yes it is

For someone (me) who learned that Pluto was a planet, then at some point after I left school, heard it wasn't (and without any explanation), this little piece of basic info brings it all into focus.

Why did it take so long for someone to tell us clearly what was going on?

Once we leave school, we're left in a black hole of learning with only our own microscopes to tunnel-vision our way through the facts and see the world around us. I yearn to return to school again

And he didn't even mention 90377 Sedna, possibly the most interesting recently-discovered "planet" in the Kuiper belt.

It is... because your imaginary friend said so? Care to extrapolate a bit?>> ^shinyblurry:

Yes it is

>> ^KnivesOut:

It is... because your imaginary friend said so? Care to extrapolate a bit?>> ^shinyblurry:
Yes it is



I don't believe the Almighty has spoken on the matter, but since it is an arbitrary definition, I will arbitrarily declare that Pluto is indeed a planet. It has three moons, an atmosphere, and 75 years of precedent. I also support the original Draft Resolution 5 for GA-XXVI: Definition of a Planet that was presented at the IAU Planet Definition Committee in August of 2006:

A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet.

Pluto qualifies as a planet according to this definition. And if this complicates matter because of bodies like Eris Sedna, Pluto should simply be granted an exemption.

It's always been strange to me how it seems like EVERYONE who is in favor of Pluto being called a planet is also against all similar objects being called planets.

I guess they see any consistent definition as an attack on their childhood. How can you be that sentimental about your former ignorance?

Kuiper Belt is a stupid name.

I'm all for scientists getting to name things - but name them something logical, approachable, or at the very least pronounced the way they are spelt.

Damn your ego man, you've created a barrier to science being learnt and understood by the common man.

You had me at "Attempt no landings here"!!!

I think Arthur C. Clark just giggled a bit in his grave!

Interesting reminds me of a project I saw recently that lets you travel around our solar system in 3D.

http://www.explorethesolarsystem.com/Explore_The_Solar_System.html

Fun little chunk of software.

I truly don't care about man's NEED to label and categorize everything.

What I do care about is giving us the whole picture, like the size differences, the distances, how many planetoids are in this Kuiper Belt and so on. Give us the diagrams so we can see what is there. I've never heard of this belt (perhaps my focuses were elsewhere).

Why is this never mentioned in Elementry school is any realistic way. I bought my son a stack of books (set) from Schoolastic. One book for every planet. I'd hoped he would get a better idea of the things around him. what they have failed at was defining their relationships to each other and never mentioned anything about the other members of Kuiper Belt and the Asteroid belt. (Hell Kuiper doesn't even exist in spellcheck - so who isn't taking this seriously)

The labels just help us to memorize and document them, but names don't make us understand anything about them. Lets educate through understanding.

Pluto will always be a planet to me. If you don't like it, stick with Uranus.

90377 Sedna is a trans-neptunian Kuiper Belt object, comparable in size to Pluto, but its orbit never crosses Neptune's. Its discovery and strange orbit imply that its not been cleared out of the inner solar system by Neptune and implies that there are more, perhaps hundreds of similar objects of similar size in the far solar system. Read about it on the Wikipoodia.

*promote

Self promoting this video back to the front page; last published Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 8:31am PDT - promote requested by original submitter shveddy.

I would really like a t-shirt that says "I remember when Ceres was a planet."

Pluto was discovered in 1930... then the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and WWII happened... makes you wonder doesn't it!

>> ^MayaBaba:

Good added facts there RFlagg.
You know since Pluto was declassified as a planet the worlds gone to hell in a hand basket - makes you wonder doesn't it!